


I'm Not Your Maid

by J_J_Janson



Category: New Game!
Genre: Co-workers, F/F, Fluff, Living Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-07-28 07:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7631500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_J_Janson/pseuds/J_J_Janson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin Toyama has finally worked up the courage to ask her best friend and crush, Ko Yagami, to move in with her. But things might not go the way she expected them to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Rin Toyama tried to gather her courage, working herself up to wake Ko Yagami up. The other woman was, as per usual, sleeping on the floor of her cubicle. Ko spent most of her nights at work. But the nervousness that gripped Rin now was related to where Ko spent the rest of her nights. 

‘Come on Rin, you showed up early so you could catch her alone, but Aoba will be here soon. You have to do this now.’ Ko had been Rin’s best friend for years. And had been the love of Rin’s life for most of those as well. But Ko could be a bit dense, so she’d never noticed. ‘I spent my first paycheck on a date with her, and she even forgot. Ugh.’ 

A door opened, and Rin froze. She held her breath and listened intently. Was it just her imagination? Or had someone arrived? 

Rin didn’t hear anyone walking into the office, so she let out her breath with a sigh.’If I’m going to do it, it’s now or never.’

She crouched next to Ko and shook her. “Hey Ko, wake up, it’s morning.” 

Ko mumbled something incomprehensible before slowly sitting up. “Thanks for waking me up,” she said after a long yawn. 

‘You can’t back out now, Rin,’ she thought to herself. “So, Ko, I had a question for you.”

Ko had sat up and was slipping her dress on. “Yeah?”

The concise speech Rin had scripted eluded her, so she just started rambling. “Well, recently, I’ve been thinking of moving into a nicer apartment. So I’ve been looking around for one, and there was a really nice one that I really, really liked.” Rin tried to ignore that her face was turning red. “But’s it’s a bit expensive, and a two bedroom place. So I thought I could room with someone, and you were the first person I thought of.”

Ko blinked a couple of times. “I barely use my apartment, so why would I need another one?”

Rin started screaming. Internally. “Well um,” she muttered, forcing herself not to say ‘I want to live with you. For the rest of my life. Because I love you.’ Finally she gathered herself. “Think about it like this: You don’t get to go home very often, but when you did I could make you a home-cooked meal. And, I dunno, I could do some of your laundry and stuff because you spend so much time here.”

Ko nodded. “So you’d be like my… what’s the word?”

‘Girlfriend girlfriend girlfriend girlfriend girlfriend girlfriend’

“My maid! Yeah! Sure, that sounds like a great plan.” Then Ko saw the expression on Rin’s face and stepped back.

“Yes,” Rin said, a tight smile on her face. “That is what I was offering. I’m glad you like that plan, but I’m afraid I’ll be asking someone else. Excuse me.” And without another word, Rin sat at her desk and began to work.

Ko found herself unable to work properly, as Rin was angrily bashing her keyboard all day.

***

“Great work as always, Hifumi. Keep it up.” Ko tried to ignore the rage radiating from Rin’s corner. “I know you get nervous about this, so you can go back to your desk now.”

Hifumi nodded, and Ko thought she heard a barely audible “Thank you” and Hifumi turned to leave.

“Oh Hifumi, do you have a moment?” 

Ko cringed a bit after Rin spoke up for the first time since that morning. 

Hifumi didn’t speak up, like always, but she did turn to Rin. “So Hifumi, just this morning I was telling Ko about this new apartment I was hoping to move into. But I’ll need a roommate to afford it. Are you interested?” 

Hifumi meekly shook her head and fled.

A moment later, Rin’s computer dinged, a message having arrived. ‘Thanks for the offer!!! But I’m really happy with my place :D so I’ll be staying there a bit longer! Good luck finding a roommate ;p’ 

In spite of her lingering frustration towards Ko, Rin couldn’t help snickering. Hifumi’s outgoing personality online was always cute, if a bit unprofessional. 

“Rin, I’m sorry about earlier.”

Rin turned to face Ko, surprised. Ko, in turn, continued. “I would be happy to move in with you. Would you still take me.”

Rin wished she could just pretend to consider, to play it cool and let Ko stew for a while. But before she could stop herself she was hugging Ko and saying “Of course, I would love to!” 

Then she had a moment to consider: she would be moving in with the love of her life. 

Suddenly Rin was red-faced and light-headed. 

“Whoa, Rin, are you okay?”

“Never been better.”


	2. Chapter 2

“So, how do you like it, miss?” The real estate agent indicated the apartment and allowed Rin and Ko to step past her into the room. It was small but cozy, with a long couch and a television taking up a large part of the living room. A small kitchen was connected to the living room, and a dining area was set up in a room connected to the kitchen. A massive window, with doors out to a balcony, dominated the far wall. It allowed in natural lighting, but the view was blocked by another apartment building. Finally, there were two bedrooms connected by a bathroom on the wall opposite the kitchen. 

Although, Rin didn’t see the apartment for what was there. All she could see was a future with Ko. On the couch, they would cuddle up and watch bad rom coms after a couple of drinks. The kitchen would generally be Rin’s domain, but occasionally Ko would surprise Rin with breakfast in bed or a fancy dinner. The balcony’s view was a bit disappointing during the day, but at night there would be an excellent view of the stars, a view that Rin could spend hours soaking in alongside Ko. And the bedrooms, well, Rin tried not to think too much about those because that always left her flustered. “So, do you like it?” Rin asked Ko.

Ko shrugged. “It’s alright I guess.”

Ko absently continued to explore, peeking into doorways, while Rin tried to hold back tears. All her fantasies shattered like glass, and Rin tried to hold herself together. ‘What a sharp rejection,’ Rin thought to herself, assuming that Ko was totally disappointed with the apartment and not at all interested in moving in with Rin.

“Whoa, Rin, I’m sorry, I guess you were really excited about living here, huh?” Ko had walked over to Rin after seeing the rooms and saw the other woman blinking back tears. “I mean, you’ve still got plenty of options for a roommate. Aoba and Yun might want to move out from their parents’ house. Or Hajime, she lives alone and might appreciate a roommate. Who knows, Director Hazuki likes cute girls, she might want to share an apartment with you.”

“It has to be you,” Rin muttered.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

Rin looked Ko dead in the eyes. “Why do you think I show up to your place on weekends to make sure you eat?”

“I- um- because we’re friends?”

Rin shook her head. “Why do you think I took care of you while you were sick on the company trip? Why do you think I’m closer to you than anyone else in the office?”

Ko blinked. “Because we’re best friends?”

Then Ko stepped back a step, as she could almost hear Rin’s heart break. “If you don’t understand, I’m going back to my place now.” And without another word, Rin walked away.

Ko was left standing by herself, hopelessly confused and desperate for a clue as to how she had hurt her friend. 

*** 

“And so, um, that’s how I wanted you to do this character. Do you have any questions, Aoba?” Ko peered at Aoba eagerly, hoping desperately the younger woman had a question. 

Aoba hesitated, unsure how to tell Ko that she’d understood Ko’s explanation twenty minutes earlier and that all of the extra stuff had left her more confused. Finally, Yun spoke up. “I have a question.”

Ko whirled around, a gleaming grin on her face. “Yes, Yun? I can answer any and all of your questions!”

“Okay. Why are you hiding from Rin in our cubicle?”

Ko stopped dead. She stood frozen for a second, before forcing a grin that failed to mask her discomfort. “What do you mean? I’m just eager to help my adorable juniors.”

“Ko, you even offered to help me, and I’m in a different department,” Hajime chimed in. 

“Come on Hifumi, tell them they’re being ridiculous,” Ko pleaded.

The dark haired girl went stiff for a moment, paused to consider her options, and then began typing. There was a ding from Yun’s computer, and then she spoke up. “Hifumi says that she doesn’t want to get dragged into your relationship problems with Rin.”

“Don’t say it like that,” Hifumi muttered weakly, too quietly for anyone to hear. 

“What? Relationship problems?”

“I think marital issues is more accurate,” Hajime grumbled.

“We are not married!”

“Oh!” Aoba chimed in. “Maybe that’s why Rin’s mad at you!”

Ko gave Aoba a blank look of confusion. “Because? What?”

Aoba, Yun, and Hajime and gasped in exasperation at the same time. Then, they all huddled up together.

“Does she really not know? Haven’t they known each other for seven years?”

“Should we tell her? I mean, is it really our place?”

“If she hasn’t figured out after seven whole years, and if Rin hasn’t told her in seven whole years, clearly they need a bit of help.”

The three girls nodded. Yun, the assumed spokesperson of the three, looked up at Ko, who was still standing awkwardly in the middle of the cubicle. “I’m going to be very blunt about this, because Rin’s subtle attempts just go right over your head. Listen very carefully: Rin is in love with you.”

Ko spent several moments in deep thought, past events appearing in a new context. Then, her face turned bright red and she crouched down, her face in her hands. “Was it really that obvious?” 

“I thought you guys were already dating when I first met you,” Aoba chimed in.

“As did I,” Hifumi typed in a message to Yun.

“So then, she asked me to live with her, and then I rejected her, and she… and I…” Ko stood up straight, shooting up like a rocket, to the surprise of the three girls who’d broken through her ignorance. “I need to fix this. But how…” She turned to leave. “Thanks for telling me. I’ll make sure I make it up to Rin.”


	3. Chapter 3

Rin drummed her fingers on her desk. Ko still hadn’t returned from Aoba and everyone’s cubicle. Rin had hesitated to chastise her for a while, because Ko was usually such a hard worker, but even Rin couldn’t excuse Ko’s absence. She sharply shoved herself away from her desk and walked towards the neighboring cubicle. 

After taking a moment to school her features, Rin poked her head into the cubicle. Noting Ko’s absence, Rin asked in a too-cheerful voice “Hey everyone! Do you all know where Ko went?”

Hifumi tensed up and focused all of her attention on her computer. Hajime, Yun, and Aoba all looked at each other, hesitating, before they all spoke up in a mess that Rin couldn’t understand. “One at a time, please.” 

“She, um, she went to talk to Director Hazuki.”

“Thank you Aoba. I’ll leave you all to your work now.”

Rin took several strides towards the director’s cubicle before she hesitated. She’d been rather rude to everyone. It wasn’t their fault that Ko had rejected her offer. It wasn’t even Ko’s fault, really, it was Rin’s fault for putting too much significance on moving in together. 

“Hey everyone,” Rin said, stepping back into the cubicle. “Thank you all again for all of your hard work. All of you always do everything you can for the game, and I don’t think I say it enough. Keep up the great work.” 

The four girls gave each other quizzical but relieved looks. “I guess her mood has improved since Ko came out here to hide,” Yun remarked. The other girls nodded.

When Rin noticed herself striding a bit too forcefully, she stopped herself and took a breath. ‘It’s okay to be angry. But it’s not okay to take it out on everyone else.’ 

Rin wasn’t surprised to find Director Hazuki loitering outside the programming booth, smiling wistfully at Umiko. The programmers were too deep in concentration to notice her presence. So, Rin made sure to announce very loudly “Well hello director, what brings you here to the programming team?” 

“Oh nothing, I was just passing through, do you need something from my Rin? Why don’t we talk over here, out of the way of the programming team,” Director Hazuki said as she led Rin away, trying to hide behind Rin in case Umiko started shooting at her.

“Well, I’m guessing you’re looking for Ko, right? Sorry, she’s not here. I gave her my blessing to wait for you at a nice little diner. So go, skedaddle, you two put in so much overtime I’m happy to cover for you two once in awhile.” She added a wink to that last statement, and Rin grew concerned.

“What do you-”

“Uh uh uh, you have to get going. I don’t care how much work you and Ko miss, but you do, so you should just go out there asap. I’ll text you the address.” 

Rin got tired of being pushed, so she reluctantly left the office.

 

“Ko, why did you leave work early?” Rin stood over Ko at the table she was sitting at. 

Ko was unfazed. “Sit down. I ordered you some lunch.” She indicated the two muffins and cup of tea that sat opposite her. A mostly-eaten donut and a drained mug of coffee hinted at Ko’s meal. 

Rin was about to argue, but her stomach rumbled. “Why does it only seem to do that in the most inconvenient moments,” Rin muttered to herself as she reluctantly sat down. Between bites of her muffin she said “Ko, I can’t believe you.” Bite. “First you spent forever loitering around Aoba’s cubicle.” Bite. “Then you conspired something up with Director Hazuki.” Bite. “And now you’re here, shirking work.” Rin finished the last bit of her muffin in one bite and chewed on it angrily, allowing Ko to reply.

“I wanted to speak with you in private. And I thought it was more important than work.”

Rin nearly choked on her second muffin. ‘Ko ‘I’m Gonna Live At the Office’ Yagami’ saying something is more important than work?

Ko had been staring at her hands, and didn’t notice Rin choke, so she continued. “I’ve thought about it. And I stand by my decision, I don’t want to live with you.”

‘You could’ve just said that at the office!’ Rin would have said if she weren’t guzzling down tea to clear her throat.

“But I do wanna change my mind about something. Our relationship.”

Rin’s heart stopped.

“We’ve been so close for so long that I never really thought about it. I didn’t consider what our relationship was, really. So I didn’t realize that you had feelings for me. And I took our relationship for granted. I was happy with where we were, but I guess you wanted more. And that’s why you asked me to move in with you. Because you thought that was the best way for us to move on to that next step.”

Rin was finally capable of speaking, but she couldn’t find the right words. So she kept quiet, and let Ko continue.

“I had to have your feelings for me pointed out to me, because I’m so blind. And when I started thinking about that, I started thinking about my own feelings. My feelings for you. My feelings about our current relationship. My feelings about where I want our relationship to go.” Ko had been staring at her hands, more nervous than ever before in her life. But she mustered the courage to look Rin in the eyes. “So I want to ask you: Will you be my girlfriend?”

In reply, Rin leaned across the table to kiss Ko.

Neither realized what had happened until they were in a warm embrace, feeling more whole than they ever had.

Rin let go, and sat back down, and the two women caught their breath. 

“Should I take that as a yes?” Ko asked with a smug grin on her face, a false bravado to cover up her shaking hands and short breath.

“Take it as a: I’ve dreamed about this day for years so of course it’s a yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end. Well, for now at least. I've enjoyed writing for New Game! I love the characters, and writing them has been a delight. There were a lot of characters who didn't show up or were only around briefly, so I hope to come back and write more about them.  
> If you've gotten this far, I'd really like to thank you. This is my first multi-chapter fic, and I really do appreciate all of the support I've been getting. I hope you enjoyed this story.


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